Make Way for Turtleducklings
by drunkzutarafeels
Summary: Many things can be broken in life. Hearts broken, minds broken, spirits broken, hopes broken, traditions broken, and even families broken. But when a broken nest comes across her path, Katara learns that the idea of impossibility has the possibility to be broken too. Anything broken can be mended if only you make way for it.
1. Contemplation

**Author's Note**: I had begun to write an author's note, but I found that it got excessively long-winded. So rather than include it here, I have written and posted it on the drunkzutarafeels blog. If you wish to read it, the author's note is available there. But you might just be better off not reading my rambling. It is entirely your choice.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own _Avatar: The Last Airbender_.

* * *

Sometimes true clarity was something that could only come from someone else.

Zuko saw her sitting by the pond with her toes dangling in the water. The sky was clear from clouds that night, letting the moonlight reflect off the water to shine on her face. But when she turned and smiled at him, her smile beamed brighter than the moon or the sun ever could.

"Hey, Zuko."

"Hi, Katara."

Katara patted the other side of the moss-covered rock on which she was already seated. They both knew Zuko was already headed to that spot, but old habits die hard.

"Well, that one took a bit longer than usual."

Zuko began to walk towards Katara and responded with a bit of laughter coloring the tone of his voice.

"It would have been shorter if you were there."

"By that you mean I always get to the point instead of listening to the sound of my own voice."

Zuko smiled. There was no need for him to nod or say "yes" for Katara to know he agreed.

Any meeting at which Katara was present would always end earlier. But being the ambassador for the Southern Water Tribe meant she could only be present at meetings relevant to the nation she represented. It irritated Katara and it irritated Zuko even more, but she had to keep to her position and he had to keep to his, even if they both wanted her to be there.

But Katara was still there. She lived in the palace. That was not a requirement for any person who was an ambassador to any nation. The multiple representatives of the Earth Kingdom and the two representatives of the Northern Water Tribe lived comfortably in the capital city of the Fire Nation. The excuse for Katara's residency in the palace was that she had no income to purchase her own home. She was not a landholder who could collect taxes and she did not own any private industries from which she could collect profits. Being a woman made obtaining such sources of income more than difficult and being the only woman ambassador made many individuals less than inclined to grant her a loan to purchase property or other investments that could give her a single shred of nonpolitical influence within the Fire Nation. Katara could have had a salary like the rest of the ambassadors, but she refused to let Zuko pay her. She insisted she did not need any salary when she had her own rent-free rooms in the palace.

But Katara needed nothing more than to be with him. Just as much Zuko needed to be with her.

Zuko reached his clearly intended destination and sat down next to Katara. They both fell into their usual habit, her tilting her head into his shoulder and him resting his head on the top of hers. He reached out to hold her hand even as she moved her own to hold his.

Because Katara loved him. Just as Zuko loved her.

She had been the ambassador for the Southern Water Tribe for more than two years by now, but Katara and Zuko had loved each other even before that. Maybe his choice to appoint her as the Southern Water Tribe ambassador made it a little obvious. Maybe her living in the palace made it very obvious. But even though she was only seventeen at the time of her appointment as ambassador, it was completely obvious that Katara would be the best representative of her people and nation.

Katara was the daughter of the chief of the Southern Water Tribe. Katara did have an elder brother, Sokka, but he was not quite suited to hold the position, or, to be more candid, he was too involved with his wife, Suki, to actually bother with almost anything else. The fact that the young man, who had hardly committed to anything in life, had committed to a marriage at age eighteen only made it more obvious that he could commit to only Suki. And knowing Suki, she would not have Sokka as her husband in any other way.

Katara was committed to her duties as an ambassador. She was committed to representing the Southern Water Tribe. She was committed to advocating about the things that really mattered.

And Katara was still more committed to him. Just as Zuko was committed to her.

Katara and Zuko both knew their commitment to each other was a commitment that would last for the rest of their lives. It had not been announced to the world, but it did not need to be. Katara was nineteen and Zuko was twenty-one. There were still many things to be done to protect the peace in the world that was still not entirely stable. But their relationship was stable. That would never change. They did not need to be married to set in stone to the world what was already set in stone with each other.

Silence was usual enough between them, but Katara could tell there was something more to this silence. Just as it always was, it was clear to her that something was bothering Zuko. He was not frowning or sighing. He was simply staring out across the pond. But Katara knew him well enough to know that something was weighing on his mind. She had to ask the question.

"What's wrong, Zuko?"

Zuko frowned and sighed. He leaned into Katara and answered her.

"I miss the turtleducks."

Zuko felt Katara's cheek expand with some kind of expression. She may have been smiling or she may have been frowning, but it did not matter to him when she squeezed his hand.

"Why do you think they left?"

"The palace was practically on fire, Katara."

Katara would have chuckled if she had not already known what look Zuko had on his face.

"I remember that, Zuko. I was there. But that was five years ago."

"It doesn't matter how long ago it was. The mother turtleduck led her turtleducklings out of here."

"And once that happens they don't come back?"

"Not unless she brings them back. Which I doubt she will. But I don't blame her. What mother in her right mind would stay in a place like this?"

Katara realized Zuko was not talking about the turtleducks anymore. She tipped her head to nestle it further into his shoulder.

"Are you thinking about your mother again, Zuko?"

Katara could always see right through Zuko. Maybe that should be something he ought to hate, but her ability to read every gesture he made, every expression he formed, and every sentence he uttered only made him love her even more.

"Yeah."

"Your mom is not a turtleduck."

"I know that, Katara."

"She'll come back, Zuko."

Zuko sighed. He could not help but doubt the idea that his mother would be found or would come back to the Fire Nation. He had spent five years searching for her without a single lead. He did not know if he would ever find her.

"You don't know that, Katara."

"Yes I do. I'm always right. You should know that by now, you idiot."

Zuko turned his head to bury it in Katara's hair and let out a tiny laugh. But his laugh was a hollow one. He stared at their intertwined hands. He knew Katara's hand well by now. He knew the smooth softness of the skin that covered that hand. He knew the way every bone and tendon rippled under the skin of that hand. More importantly he knew how it felt to hold that hand and how that hand felt like it fit perfectly in his own. Zuko squeezed her hand and spoke again.

"I do. But I just don't think I really want her to come back."

That hand sharply ripped out of Zuko's grasp. The owner of that hand spoke even more sharply.

"What?"

Zuko only realized what his choice of words conveyed when turned to Katara and saw the heat in her eyes and heard the icy tone in her voice.

"At least you still have a mother to think that about, Zuko."

Katara sharply stood up and began to walk out of the courtyard. She could not help but take Zuko's words personally. Maybe Katara could not fully understand Zuko's relationship with his mother, but Katara knew Zuko had learned a great deal about her relationship with her own mother. Zuko had been with Katara on her journey to find her mother's killer. He had proposed the idea. He had helped her pursue the truth. He had risked so much to help her find that closure she wanted and needed. Katara had spoken to Zuko about all that had happened with her mother on that horrible day.

Zuko clearly knew that horror too. Even when she had still thought of him as her enemy, Zuko had told Katara how he understood the loss of a mother in the caves below Ba Sing Se. Katara could not fathom Zuko's hesitation when she would have done absolutely anything to see her mother just one more time.

When the tears began to burn her eyes and blur her vision, Katara walked even faster. She was not afraid to cry in front of Zuko. She simply did not want his guilt and apologies to be directed at her. She instead wanted him to feel guilty and apologetic about how he had even slightly considered the idea of not wanting to see his mother again.

Fighting was perhaps a far too natural occurrence between Katara and Zuko. Fighting was a part of their nature. But the nature of every fight they had was that it was always somehow unnaturally able to resolve itself with mutual forgiveness because that evidently unnatural forgiveness was essentially natural for them. That was the nature of their relationship. It was the simple truth of how they naturally worked.

Only Katara knew that truth about him. Just as much as only Zuko knew that truth about her.

But this time, Katara did not want Zuko's apologies. She wanted him to sit and stew until he realized the words did not hurt her nearly so much as she thought they would have hurt his mother. Maybe Zuko's mother would not blame him for his words. But Katara wanted Zuko to blame himself for those words at least long enough for him to feel apologetic about the words themselves instead of feeling apologetic about the reaction of the person to whom he had said them.

Zuko made no attempt to yell out Katara's name or beg her to stay. He simply got up and ran to stop her. Zuko knew just how terrible he was with words. He knew just how detrimental his tendency for speaking before thinking was every single time he opened his mouth. But Katara had taught Zuko just how capable action was of communicating so much more than speech and thought ever could.

Zuko made no motion to reach out to grab Katara's arm when he knew she would only pull that arm away from him. Instead he ran immediately in front of her and reached forward to hold Katara's face in both of his hands. Katara ripped her head out of his hands and continued to walk, but Zuko only let her walk into him and pressed his top of his forehead to her own. His empty hands wove themselves into her hair instead. He did not tilt her head upwards to meet his eyes. He instead bent his head further down towards hers and closed his own eyes.

Katara and Zuko remained silent for a few moments. Her hands released from the tight fists she had held at her sides and rose up behind his back to tightly grip his shoulders and hold him to her frame instead. Zuko breathed a sigh of relief, knowing Katara had accepted the apology he had not needed to utter.

Zuko moved his hands again to hold Katara's face and bent his head further down, pressing his nose into her cheek alongside her own nose. He used the gesture to gently nudge her head up. He did want to kiss her, but he wanted to feel her breath ghost over his face much more.

There were still times in his life when Zuko could not believe a woman like Katara actually existed in this world. It should not be believable that a woman like her could exist in any world that also had a man like him in it. It should not be believable that a woman like her could exist at all.

But somehow a man like him and a woman like her existed in the same world. Maybe that could be believable. But a man like him and a woman like her sharing a private little world in which they existed together could be nothing but completely unbelievable.

But "could" and "should" would never hold any power over what was or was not truly believable when what could be or should be were not what truly was. And whether it was believable or not, everything about that woman and that man was true.

Truly Katara was that woman. Just as much as Zuko truly was that man.

He was that man who had chased her, hurt her, and betrayed her. And still she was that woman who had forgiven him, respected him, and loved him.

Whether anyone else could believe it or not, all of those parts of their pasts and their personalities were what both separately and together made them whole.

But a part of Zuko felt he knew that he would always be broken. He knew that parts of him had splintered internally with the events and circumstances that had happened over the course of his life. But he felt that some parts had been missing entirely for as long as he could remember living. Zuko felt like he was full of holes and cracks that seemed impossible to fill.

Yet he knew Katara could still make them whole. She could make _him_ whole. She could bring together the shattered pieces and fill in the voids, not with illusion, but with truth. Given the chance, Katara could heal almost any wound. She was indubitably a master waterbender and there was practically no physical injury she could not heal. But she could heal so much more than that. She could heal not just the wounds on the surface, but also the wounds underneath it. And that is what Katara did for Zuko.

Zuko knew he would always have missing parts, broken pieces, and gaping voids in him. But he also knew Katara would never add to that. She would not go missing, she would not break him, and she would never leave him behind with a void in her place. It was a dangerous thing for Zuko to let himself unequivocally trust in anything being certain. He was so afraid to trust in the idea of certainty as even being a possibility when that trust had proven to be false so many times before. Zuko feared trust itself.

But despite everything his life had contained and all it would contain in the future, Zuko knew his life would always contain Katara in it. He knew he could trust in that just as much as he could trust in her. That was as clear to him as the as her face had looked in the bright moonlight. Zuko knew Katara's love would always be the one thing he could always trust in.

Zuko still could not quite fathom how that could be true, but he still knew Katara would always be true. Katara was true to her word, true to her will, and true to him. Katara was truth itself. And with his past being so thoroughly wrought with lies and deceit, Zuko truly could never be more grateful for anything else.

Katara felt Zuko practically shaking in her arms. She moved her hands from his shoulders to rest on top of his own hands, which still held her face, and wove her fingers between his own. She kept Zuko's hands on her cheeks as she pulled away from his forehead just enough to kiss the tip of his nose. Katara ran her thumbs along his wrists, waiting for him to open his eyes and speak the thoughts she knew were stumbling over each other in his mind.

Zuko took a deep breath before he opened his eyes. He saw Katara's small smile and almost whispered his next words.

"I do want to see my mother again, Katara. I just don't if I want her to come back to a place that is so full bad memories for her. She suffered so much here. Why would she ever want to come back?"

"Zuko, please. You're her son. She would come back for you. She _will_ come back for you. I know she will. And I am always right."

"But what if you're not this time?"

"What did I just say, Zuko?"

"That I'm an idiot?"

"Clearly."


	2. Obfuscation

Sometimes when life throws something in the way, it is not a reason to throw that something away.

Katara had always had a need to get out. Sometimes she had a real reason and sometimes she did not. But any time she took a walk, Katara always had a way of coming up with good reason. Every single time.

But this time, her reason was not quite as legitimate as it probably should have been.

Katara decided that she had a reason to go to the market that day. It was the time of year that seaprunes would actually be available. There would always be some things she would miss about her home at the South Pole, but Zuko alone was more than enough of a reason to make Katara want and need to stay in the Fire Nation. She knew that no matter where they were, being with Zuko would always be Katara home.

But Katara never made it to the market that day. She had taken an empty basket with her, but that basket did not come back carrying seaprunes. It came back carrying an infinitely more precious cargo.

With Zuko's efforts to rebuild the Fire Nation, he had commissioned new structures to be built to house those Fire Nation citizens that formerly lived in the Earth Kingdom colonies, so long as they wished to leave to be citizens of the Fire Nation and not to become citizens of the Earth Kingdom.

That day Katara passed by a building that was still under construction. There was a splay of broken beams and splay of broken tools on the ground. But there was also a splay of feathers.

It was that kind of day when Katara's innate sense of curiosity was at a high point. After seeing those feathers, she gave into her urge to walk into the construction area. When she heard a quiet chirping sound, she definitely felt that she had a good reason to dig around in the wreckage to find its source.

The source of that chirping was a collection of six eggs that were housed in a nest that had since fallen apart. Katara took more time than reason would suggest as being necessary to look for the mother of those eggs. But that mother was nowhere to be seen. Katara was sure that mother had her reasons. She was either forced to leave or she died protecting her yet to be born babies. Katara was sure of that.

But Katara also knew that there was not enough time for those eggs to be left alone until their mother came back. So she stocked her basket with eggs instead of seaprunes and returned to the palace. Katara had always possessed a kind and generous heart and that was reason enough for her to bring those eggs back with her.

* * *

Katara knew all of the secret routes into the palace well enough by now to get to her room without being noticed. It probably would not look good to anyone who saw her, no matter what reasons she gave to them for having a basket full of chirping eggs.

She dashed into her room, assured that she had not been seen by anyone. Or at least not seen by someone who would bother to notice what she was carrying.

_Now what? I have a basket of eggs that are clearly about to hatch and no idea what to do with them._

Katara recalled the words her brother had said so many years ago, reminding her that going "to the library" might just be her best bet for some answers. Having lived at the palace for more than two years meant she knew her way around the Fire Nation's Palace library as well as any person who used it, if not more so. With so many books to read available at any time she wanted, what avid reader could resist?

She found the section on Fire Nation wildlife almost immediately. The Palace Librarian was asleep, as usual, so Katara chose to take out some books without signing them out. She pulled two books from the same shelf, both of which were about the avian wildlife of the Fire Nation, and calmly took her leave. Everyone knew how often Katara frequented the library by now and some even knew how often she somehow "forgot" to sign her books out.

When she got back to her rooms, Katara quickly flipped through the first book. It mostly discussed the glories of the avian wildlife and how they so gloriously adorned the glorious Fire Nation with their glorious plumage. Katara knew it had to be from the glory days of Fire Lord Sozin. But the second book was entirely informational and included images that could identify each species by their eggs. Katara flipped through it, looking back and forth between the eggs and the drawings she saw. She started to get concerned when she was more than halfway through the alphabetical listing, but when she got to the "t" section, she found a precise match.

_Turtleducks. These are turtleduck eggs._

Katara grinned and quickly read all that the book had about turtleducks. The information was sparse, but it was enough to know how to care for them, at least initially. It was clearly not written for a human being who had decided to take on the role of hatching and raising turtleducks, but it was logical enough to suggest that these eggs, like any other kind of egg, had to be warmed by their mother sitting on their nest. That was something Katara obviously could not do. But the idea of incubation was simple enough. She simply had to wait for nightfall to go through the halls and snatch some of those glass-contained wall sconces that were lit through firebending every evening.

Katara learned the ways of stealth a long time ago when she and Zuko went searching for her mother's killer, so it was easy enough for her to snatch three of the globes from the wall without being noticed. Of course their absence would be obvious, but that kind of thing would never be pinned on her. She knew not to worry about the possibility of some innocent being pursued and prosecuted for stealing all the globe lights, so to do so for a very worthy cause did not concern her in the slightest.

Katara pulled open the drawer that contained her now virtually useless Water Tribe winter weather clothing. All those furs and heavy fabrics seemed to be the ideal place to incubate the turtleduck eggs. She wrapped the eggs in an old parka and evenly spaced the three globe lights in the drawer before closing it.

Katara would now have to seem to be too sick to have dinner tonight. It would not be just her and Zuko tonight anyway. He was supposed to entertain some Fire Nation nobility, all of whom clearly thought themselves too good to be in her company. Katara never let that sort of thing bother her, but Zuko would not be suspicious if she did not show up. He hated those dinners too.

But Katara did have to dispel any suspicions that the servant might have when the woman would inevitably come by to offer to dress her. Katara always turned her down, but the proprieties of palace life must be preserved at all times.

When Katara heard that familiar soft knock on her door, she had already prepared her good reason.

"Ambassador Katara, would you like any assistance getting dressed for dinner this evening?"

The servant, Anju, was nothing but an utter sweetheart in Katara's eyes. Anju knew Katara well enough by now to know that the offer would be refused. But the servant did not expect her charge to answer the door with a pallid face and bloodshot eyes.

"Thank you, Anju, but I won't be attending dinner tonight. I feel very ill."

Anju knew to mask both her shock and her concern when neither were said to be appropriate for a servant to feel in such a situation.

"Should I fetch you the palace physician?"

"No, I'm sure going to bed early and getting some rest will be the best medicine I can get."

"Should I bring you something to eat instead?"

"No, I'm fine. To be honest, I'd probably throw it up anyway."

The servant only slightly blanched. She was used to Katara's way of speaking by now. Even if it was not what she was used to, Anju found Katara's style of conversation to be refreshingly honest.

"Then I will not disturb you for the rest of the evening. Please let me know if you need anything at all, Ambassador Katara."

"Sure."

Katara perhaps closed the door a little too harshly, but her eyes were burning from the perfume she had dabbed in them.

_Cosmetics do have their uses after all._

Katara quickly washed her eyes and rubbed the too pale make up off her face. Of course the Fire Nation did not have anything for her skin color, but she did not care and neither did Zuko.

_You always look beautiful with nothing on your face, Katara. Or on your body._

Katara laughed when she remembered the time Zuko had said that. He had turned so red that his face was almost as dark as his scar. He quickly learned that comments like that would never be something for him to feel embarrassed about.

_I wish I could see you tonight, Zuko. But I want to be here when they hatch. I have to._

Katara had already decided that she would raise the turtleducklings in secret as a surprise for Zuko. She knew he was not particularly fond of surprises, but this one would be just for the two of them.

Katara sat of the edge of her bed and stared at the closed drawer. She could not exactly will them to hatch, but she would not let herself miss it when it happened, and from the sound of the muffled chirping she heard, it had to be soon.

* * *

Katara managed to stay up until it was nearly dawn before she finally fell asleep. But as the sunlight broke the horizon, the chirping became loud enough to wake her up.

_Typical. Turtleducks rise with the sun. Just like everything else in this nation._

Katara surprised herself by leaping up and rushing to her dresser. But she restrained herself enough to slowly open the drawer.

She saw five little turtleducklings staring at her. It ought to have been six, but one little turtleduckling was clearly refusing to stick its head out its already cracked shell to look at her.

"Oh you have some serious attitude, little turtleducky. I can tell already that you will never do what I ask you to do."

At that, the tiny turtleduckling popped its head out and gave her the closest thing to a glare that a newborn turtleduckling could imaginably muster.

"We will get along just fine, I assure you. Once you learn to listen to your Mama Ducky."

The little turtleduckling promptly tucked its head back into its shell.

Katara almost snorted but instead chose to switch her attention to the other five turtleducklings, all of which needed her care as much as the turtleduckling that was born with a fierce attitude.

_Now what? I need to feed them and watch them and take care of them and I have no idea about how to do it._

Katara quickly grabbed the book she had used before and quickly found the same entry she saw about turtleducks earlier in the evening. The entry was two pages long.

"Shit."

Katara looked back up at the turtleducklings.

"No. Mama Ducky did not curse just now. Not like you can speak. But pretend that never happened, okay?"

The one stubborn turtleduckling popped its head out again as if to judge Katara.

"You and I are going to have a lot of fun, little turtleducky."

_Clearly I have to go back to the library. There has to be something more specific about turtleducks than this two-page blurb._

Suddenly Katara heard that familiar knock on the door.

"Ambassador Katara? Are you awake?"

"Be quiet, turtleduckies."

The already infamous turtleduckling promptly chirped as loud as the little thing could muster.

_Damn it all._

"Ambassador Katara, I do not wish to intrude, but I think I can be of some service to you with your present situation."

"You heard that, didn't you?"

"I may have heard the sound of a newly hatched turtleduckling, yes."

Katara quickly went to the door and opened it.

"How can you possibly know that by just the sound, Anju?"

Anju smiled before quickly bowing her head.

"I was raised in the countryside, Ambassador Katara. The sound that I may have heard is a familiar one to me. Might I come in?"

"Yeah sure. Please do. I have no idea what I am doing and if you have any kind of clue about this it would be much more helpful than any book."

This time, Anju did not bother to bow her head when she smiled. Katara smiled back at her and held the door open just enough for the servant to slip into the room.

The servant quickly walked towards the drawer.

"It appears I have found where the three missing wall sconces have disappeared to when they were noticed as missing last evening."

"Yeah. That was me."

"Ambassador Katara, I can honestly say that your intuition here was perfectly correct."

"Anju, can you please just start calling me Katara? Or do I have to make that an order?"

"No, you do not, Ambassa… Katara."

"Good first attempt. But please work on that so I don't feel like some stuffy old noblewoman."

"I will do my best."

"Good. But now you need to please tell me everything you know about turtleducks."

"They are very voracious eaters from the moment they hatch."

"So what do they eat?"

"Ideally any kind of grain that is regurgitated by their mother. But I do not mean to suggest that you perform the same function that a mother turtleduckling would do."

"Okay good. Because that is kind of gross."

Anju let herself quietly laugh.

"I suppose that any kind of grain mashed with a small amount of water will do just as well."

"Can you get that for me?"

"Of course. I am at your service."

"So what else do I need to do?"

"Well they will make waste after you feed them."

"Well that's obvious, Anju."

"I am glad you know so. I would recommend confining them to one room and laying the floor with spare linens. I will bring some to you."

"Just make sure they are already ruined because I am not about to ruin nice linens just to have turtleducklings mess them up."

"You are very gracious."

"No. I'm just rational. Don't waste nice sheets if they are going to get covered in bird grossness."

Anju did not quiet her laugher this time.

"But what I really need to know is how to take care of them as they grow. Things like how fast that happens and how to tell whether they are a boy or a girl and when they need to start learning how to swim. Do you know all of that stuff too?"

"Yes. But do you mean to care for them on your own?"

"I do. I don't want to turn them into some menagerie or anything. I found an abandoned nest yesterday so I just grabbed the eggs and brought them back with me and pretended to be sick, which by the way I am sorry I lied about that to you, and I want to take care of them myself."

"May I ask why, Amb…Katara?"

Katara could not help herself from giving Anju a look, but she forced herself to restrain that critical glare as much as possible. Katara knew how difficult it was for Anju to stop using her title when addressing her and knew not to diminish the other woman's palpable effort to do so. Anju detected the gentle reprimand, but it only forced her to restrain a smile.

"Just hear me out, Anju. The reason I don't want to let anyone else take care of them is because I want to raise them up myself and get them to swim in the little lake in the Royal Family Palace Garden to surprise Zuko. He has told me about how there used to be turtleducks in there…and why they left. So I thought this would be a nice little something I could do for him."

"You are as gracious and thoughtful as ever."

"Please stop with all the highbrow language, Anju. You just said you're a countryside girl. And I am one too, even though the Southern Water Tribe doesn't exactly have green pastures and a wide variety of wildlife."

"Rest assured that I do appreciate hearing your more colloquial use of language, but I cannot let myself speak in the way I formerly did when I serve the members of the royal family."

"Okay. That's reason enough for me. But speaking of 'serving' the members of the royal family, I hope you do not 'serve' the Fire Lord Zuko with such sensitive information."

"I swear on my honor that I will not breathe a single word of this to anyone. But there may be others who discover your current charges by accident."

"Yeah, I thought that might happen. But really the most important thing is that Zuko doesn't know."

"I will do all that I can to make sure the Fire Lord does not know. And where I fail, I am confident that your specialized powers of persuasion can succeed."

"Was that a bit of a joke about my tendency to 'persuade' people with my waterbending?"

"Perhaps."

Katara grinned at the other young woman.

"Good one, Anju. It's about time you loosened up a little bit."

Anju returned the smile. Serving this friendly and kind young woman had been the best position Anju had ever been given. It was also a position she dared to hope she would never lose. She smiled a little wider knowing that there was a good chance that she would never be need to wait on any other lady again.

"So you'll help me with all my questions and help keep this quiet then, Anju?"

"It will be my pleasure, Katara."

Katara hugged the servant without a second thought. Anju somehow managed to pat her mistress's back twice.

_At least that's a start._

Katara pulled away and gently held the other young woman by the shoulders.

"Okay. So I am still very ill and I won't be able to leave my room for the next few hours."

"During which I will check in on you to see how you are feeling and bring with me a few parcels of things, all of which will be discreetly covered so as to hide their contents."

"I'm glad we understand each other."

Katara was bubbling with so much energy that she nearly pushed Anju out the door. She paused before opening it and quietly whispered to the servant.

"Did you not say that they are 'voracious' eaters? I would also not wish to have their 'waste' on the carpet."

Anju stopped trying to fight the grin that curled her lips.

"Good. Now run along, Anju. I want to be conveniently feeling well again in time to have breakfast with Zuko."

The tiny woman gave Katara a tiny nod and slipped out the door, floating away with those nearly silent footsteps that all the Royal Household servants seemed to have.

Katara closed the door behind her and walked back towards the quiet little chirping of her new roommates. She knew next to nothing about the little birds she had decided to take on, but the sounds of giggling and babbling that came out of her mouth were a natural enough instinct for her.

_Worth it. __**So**__ worth it._

* * *

Katara had a little over three hours until Zuko would have expected her traditionally late riser self to amble down to join him for breakfast, but Anju managed to bring everything Katara needed in less than one. They took the table and floor cushions out of the small room Katara was meant to have tea in and laid the floor with the old linens. The little turtleducklings were almost alarmed when Katara took them from the drawer, so she carried them into the side room still wrapped up in the Water Tribe parka they had been swaddled in when they had finally hatched.

_Well it isn't like I really need it now anyway._

"Turtleducks do not have a great sense of smell, but they will always remember the way you smell."

"Because they think I am their mother, right?"

"Precisely."

Anju held out a bowl of finely ground grain and a carafe of fresh water to Katara. Katara bent tiny amounts of water into the bowl and mashed it with the water until the mixture reached the right consistency, which Anju had indicated to Katara with a small nod. Luckily there was enough water in the mixture for Katara to bend it into tiny little servings for each of the six turtleducklings. She laughed as they tried to take the portions of each other even with their own portion hovering immediately above their heads.

"Not nearly as messy as that 'regurgitation' thing, is it Anju?"

"Indeed."

Katara kept feeding them until the bowl was empty, but the little birds were still looking at her expectantly. She turned to look and Anju and saw the young woman already holding another full bowl in front of her.

Katara frowned slightly and repeated the same process. She paused and spoke.

"Anju, is there such a thing as feeding them too much?"

"The newly hatched turtleduck will and should eat all that it wants in its first few days. They will eventually stop and rest when they are full."

"You mean they have to eat until they pass out?"

"I suppose so."

Katara repeated the same process three more times before the six turtleducklings quieted down and nestled themselves all in the same parka.

Katara sat still as she watched them fall asleep.

"I have to go now, don't I?"

"You have about seven minutes until the Fire Lord will expect you to join him. But I am sure he is willing to wait for your company."

"No, I can go. They'll be fine, I'm sure."

Katara stood up and brushed her hands off on her dress only after she realized she had already changed it when Anju had left the room. She only shrugged and brushed her dress a bit more thoroughly. Katara slid her waterskin on over her shoulder and walked slowly to the door, looking back at the turtleducklings every few steps. Anju only began to stand up when Katara reached for the door's handle.

"You can stay as long as you would like, you know. You are their Auntie Anju after all."

"I will stay as long as my schedule permits."

"Don't bother picking up my room today. You have more important duties to take care of and my sheets really don't need to be washed every day."

"Thank you, Katara."

"You're more than welcome, Anju. I'm sure I'll see you later."

Katara gave the sleeping turtleducklings a tiny wave before stepping out into the hall.

* * *

Katara tried to walk as calmly as possible to the Royal Family dining room, but she could not resist a few little skips whenever she turned into an empty hall.

When Katara walked into the room, Zuko immediately got up and rushed over to her, feeling her forehead while a crease of concern crossed his own.

"Katara, are you okay?"

"What do you mean, Zuko? I'm fine."

_Oh wait. I was terribly ill last night. I forgot about that part of the plan._

"I mean. I'm fine now."

"Are you sure? You look like you haven't slept at all."

"Yes, Zuko. You fall apart over every little thing all the time. Stop worrying."

"Do you know what happened?"

Katara hesitated for a moment, scrambling to come up with a believable explanation.

"I think I maybe just ate something bad."

"What did you eat, Katara? Did you eat it in the palace? Do I need to have a talk with the kitchen?"

"Zuko, stop. I went down to the market yesterday to find some seaprunes. It just didn't really turn out the way I really expected."

_And I'm not even lying. Technically._

"So then I don't have to worry about getting sick if I kiss you?"

Katara kissed Zuko instead of answering his question.

"Good."

Zuko brushed the hair off Katara's forehead and kissed her back with a tiny bit more force.

"Very good."

The next kiss was stopped by a soft knock, followed by a man carrying in a large bowl of soup and few baskets of steamed vegetables and roasted meats. He carefully placed them on the table where the calmly seated Fire Lord and Water Tribe Ambassador were already waiting.

When the door closed again, Katara sputtered with laughter.

"What?"

"Zuko, please. If you really want to pretend like nothing is going on the moment before someone else enters the room, you need to realize that staring at me like an idiot defeats the entire purpose."

"I thought I did pretty well this time."

"Well, perhaps. I have to admit that you are getting better at it."

"Really?"

"Really. Only being slightly transparent instead of being completely readable is still an improvement."

Zuko folded his arms and almost pouted in a very Fire Lord like way.

Katara reached out to his chin so Zuko could see her smile and pressed a soft kiss on his lips. She pulled away from him, relishing in the fact that she could still get that perfect dumbstruck look to appear on his face. When Zuko leaned over the table in order to kiss her again, his mouth met with a pair of chopsticks instead of Katara's lips.

"The food is going to get cold, Zuko."

"The food can turn into ice for all I care, Katara."

The second time he leaned over, his lips were met with a splash of soup broth.

"Katara. You did not."

"I did not what?"

Zuko picked up a clump of rice and tried to flick it at Katara's face but watched it miss and fall down her dress instead. He looked up at her with what could only be called a gentlemanly leer.

"No, Zuko. I am actually hungry right now. We are not about to do _either_ of those things."

Zuko glowered at the table. When he resumed the dignified pout and folded arms posture of a truly noble Fire Lord, he heard an oddly muffled giggle. He looked up and saw Katara holding back laughter with a mouthful of food.

"How very dignified, Ambassador Katara."

Katara quickly swallowed and laughed with him.

"Now shut up and eat your stupid food, Fire Lord Zuko."

They giggled their way through the rest of the meal, managing to throw only a few small pieces of food at each other for the next hour.

But this time, it was not all truly thrown away.


	3. Author's Note

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**:

This will eventually be deleted, but I like talking even if I do not like the idea of author's notes.

I basically have a announcement and/or question for anyone who is reading my fanfiction.

My coadmin/beta made a suggestion about including something that I had not planned for.

Well really this fanfiction was originally going to be a oneshot, which turned into a three part story, which then turned into a fully planned fifteen chapter fanfiction.

She suggested I write about just raising the turtleducklings. Such a thing would involve watching them grow, Anju and Katara bonding time, and, as she so aptly put it, Zuko being a doof.

But to do that, I know I have to write a whole new chapter from scratch.

As it was, Chapter Two and Chapter Three were basically done as they were. But what I posted for Chapter Two was an edited version that could give me the opportunity to write a new chapter to put between the original(ish) versions of Chapter Two and Chapter Three.

But I am not totally inclined to do that.

Writing a whole new chapter will take so much longer than even my slow chapter updates.

And as it is now, Chapter Four and Chapter Five are about halfway written, Chapter Six is mostly written, Chapter Seven and Chapter Eight are basically finished, and parts of Chapters Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, and Fifteen are written too (it totally makes sense to write in reverse duh).

Not like that will make me update faster. I am too obsessive with editing for that to happen.

Basically I am really excited about Chapter Three already and I kind of just want to keep going as I originally planned.

So unless someone really wants a cute turtleduckling raising chapter enough to wait about a month for it, I might just go back and repost Chapter Two as it was before (more or less because obviously I want to edit it more).

Any thoughts?


End file.
